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On 25 March 2015, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland published its new Guidelines in Respect of Coverage of Referenda. The Guidelines set out rules and advice for broadcasters in their coverage of two referenda set to take place in May 2015 (the first proposing allowing same-sex marriage and the second proposing a reduction in the age of eligibly for presidential candidates). The new Guidelines replace the previous Guidelines in Respect of Coverage of Referenda, issued in 2013 and 2011 (see IRIS 2013-8/27 and IRIS 2011-9/24). Rule 27 of the Authority’s Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality...

Although political advertising is not allowed in UK broadcasting, the Communications Act 2003 makes provision for the allocation of free party election broadcasts before elections and referendums to be shown by the major broadcasters. The broadcasts are to be allocated to major parties included in a list drawn up by Ofcom, the communications regulator, which has also drawn up a set of rules relating to the broadcasts. Each major party is entitled to at least two such broadcasts, whilst other parties are entitled to one broadcast if they are contesting one-sixth of seats in the election. The BBC...

On 26 February 2015, the Council of Electronic Media published on its website a penalty statement for a violation of the Radio and Television Act. On 2 November 2014, on the "Nova TV" channel in the "Dikoff" programme were included marked blocks with commercial messages. The measurements of the audio signal, performed with the “TSL Pam Pico” system and certified by measurement protocols, show a difference between the volume of the broadcast commercial messages (advertising and self-promotions) and that of the rest of the programme. The measurement results show that the volume at the time of broadcasting...

Having established during its monitoring of Flemish television broadcasts that very short “bumpers” have been increasingly used to indicate advertising breaks, the Flemish Media Regulator issued an opinion on the implementation of the principle related to the distinction between editorial and commercial content. This principle is laid down in Article 79 of the Flemish Media Decree, which implements Article 19 of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive. According to Article 79, television advertising must be readily recognisable and distinguishable from editorial content. After consulting with...

In two cases related to humorous cigarette advertisements, the European Court of Human Rights found that there had been no reason for the domestic authorities to interfere with the freedom of commercial speech in order to protect the right of reputation and the right to their own names of two public persons referred to in the advertisements, without their consent. The European Court found, in particular, that the German Federal Court of Justice had struck a fair balance between freedom of expression (Article 10) and the right to privacy (Article 8). The first applicant, Dieter Bohlen, is a well-known...